|
FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS: 1. Buccaneers #40 Jersey . EASTS THIRD SEED (RAPTORS OR BULLS?): With Sundays Raptors win at Detroit coupled with the Bulls loss in New York, suddenly the Toronto Raptors are back in a tie for third place and hold the tiebreaker for the spot with two games to go. The opportunity to play either Washington or Charlotte rather than the Brooklyn Nets is a real possibility right now and keeps the pressure on both teams to play out the regular season trying to win outright. It should be fun to watch how both of these squads approach the urgency of that. Players always say they dont care who they play as long as theyre in the playoffs, but coaches really care because theyre the ones doing extensive prep for these match-ups and know all of the ins and outs as they pertain to the good and bad matchups. Theres still lots to play for. 2. WESTERN CONFERENCE: In the East, only two teams (Indiana and Miami) will finish with 50 wins while weve got five teams with 50 wins already in the West and another three (Golden State, Dallas and Memphis) with a chance to get to 50 in the next few days. Pretty remarkable to see how strong this conference is. Consider the fact that the ninth place team in that conference (Phoenix) will come close to 50 and be playing golf in a few days if they dont get a few breaks here. Its been a terrific year and the playoffs in the West will be hotly-contested matchups. 3. MASON PLUMLEE (Nets): He wont win the Rookie of the Year award, but the more I watch him play the more I love his game. This guy plays hard all of the time, has nice bounce to his game and can score in the lane for you. Has a nose for the ball with great rebounding instincts. With various injuries to the Nets this year hes been able to get on the floor and has taken advantage of the playing time and looks quite comfortable now. Hes earned coach Jason Kidds trust and has a valuable role off the bench for them. Good development for him and their team. 4. ANDREW NICHOLSON (Magic): His playing time and his numbers are down this season and the second year Canadian hasnt been able to get any sort of rhythm going at all. He is your classic tweener - a combo 3-4 who has good post and mid-range skills yet struggles (29 per cent) with his three-point shooting and his handle in the open court still needs improvement. Big off-season coming up for him as he needs to add a few tools to his tool kit to create a niche for himself as a pro. He had some solid moments as a rookie but theyve been few and far between as a sophomore. Hes a worker and plays all out all the time. I have no doubt that hell pay the price in the next six months and come back for Year 3 as a better player. 5. MO WILLIAMS (Blazers): Even though his career numbers are off this season, his role is smaller for him in Portland yet hes been a terrific addition to their team. Still a solid playmaker (4-plus assists per game) and can score (10 ppg) and shoot the three (37 percent) while providing veteran leadership and savvy to the backcourt. His knack for making the high percentage play and knowing/accepting his role in their scheme has helped coach Terry Stotts bring this team along and enjoy a fun season. Sometimes guys just fit and other times they dont - hes been an ideal fit for them. Buccaneers #69 Jersey . If the Big Easts best player was overlooked before, he wont be any longer. He always reaches the second gear, said Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun. Scoring in bunches, Walker poured in 36 points as Connecticut continued to roll through the NCAA Tournament with a 74-67 victory over San Diego State in the Sweet 16 on Thursday. Buccaneers #43 Jersey . Milwaukee is three games behind Indiana for the eighth and final postseason berth in the East with only six games to go. It stayed alive in the playoff hunt with Saturdays 93-87 overtime win versus Philadelphia. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Ryan Getzlaf has been shooting the puck more this season, and its been paying off for himself and his teammates. Getzlaf put Anaheim ahead to stay in the final minute of the first period with his career-high 26th goal, and Corey Perry, Patrick Maroon and Daniel Winnik also scored as the Ducks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 Thursday night. Getzlaf, in the first season of an eight-year, $66 million contract extension he signed last March, scored 25 goals during the Ducks 2006-07 Stanley Cup championship season and matched that total in 2008-09. "If he shoots the puck, hes going to score. And he shoots the puck a lot -- a lot more than hes done in the past. So consequently, hes getting goals," coach Bruce Boudreau said in reference to Getzlafs 136 shots on net. The Ducks captain also recorded his second career "Gordie Howe hat trick" -- a goal, an assist, and a fight with Steve Downie. "He said to me earlier that I owed him one from that first game of the season when we fought and he was with Colorado," Getzlaf said. "So he asked me to go, and I thought it an OK time for me to do it." Saku Koivu added an empty-net goal and Frederik Andersen made 27 saves, helping the Ducks improve their NHL-leading record to 40-11-5 and their home mark to 22-2-2. They have won 22 of their last 26 games, and are off to the best start in franchise history. Winnik gave Anaheim a 4-2 lead with a short-handed goal, the ninth allowed this season by the Flyers -- tying Edmonton for the league lead. Koivu broke up a pass in the Ducks zone and went off on a 2-on-1 break with Winnik, who beat Steve Mason to the glove side with 7:34 remaining while teammate Hampus Lindholm was off for high-sticking Claude Giroux. "The way they play on the power play, they get four guys down below the hash marks after a shot," Winnik said after his first goal since Oct. 10. "It was something we knew going into the game, so we felt there could be chances that way and we were fortunate to get one tonight. It felt really good. It was a long time coming. Its nice to get that pressure off me." Andersen is 13-2-0 in his first 15 NHL starts, and hasnt allowed more than three goals in any of them. He has a 1.94 goals-against average, including a two-period relief stint in his NHL debut on Oct. 20, when he earned a 6-3 win in relief against Dallas by stopping all 24 shots he faced after Jonas Hiller left with a 3-1 deficit. "Our depth at goaltending has been outstanding, and when Freddies played hes been unbelievable," Getzlaf said. "Hes a big kid and for a young guy, he plays really calm in the net. Hes not too active, and thats a good sign. Hes a goalie that setttles things down back there. Keith Tandy Buccaneers Jersey. " Vincent Lecavalier, Matt Read and Michael Raffl scored for the Flyers, and Mason stopped 23 shots following his 33-save shutout against Detroit on Tuesday at Philadelphia. The Flyers are 3-6-2 in their last 11 games following a 7-1-0 stretch. "It was a pretty physical game," Boudreau said. "They were trying to push us around, but I thought we did a pretty good job of standing up for ourselves." Philadelphia came in averaging a league-worst 15.9 penalty minutes, but it was the Ducks who couldnt stay out of the box during the first period as the Flyers cashed in on one of three power plays. Lecavalier beat Andersen through the pads with a 25-foot wrist shot from the right circle, tying it at 1 with 3 seconds left on Matt Beleskeys interference penalty. Getzlaf regained the lead for Anaheim parking himself at the edge of the crease and redirecting Lindholms 50-foot slap shot past Mason with 36 seconds left in the period. Perry made it 3-1 at 10:29 of the second, beating Mason to the glove side from the low slot after getting a cross-ice pass from Getzlaf. The Ducks are 9-0-1 this season when Getzlaf and Perry score goals in the same game, and 23-3-4 under those circumstances since Feb. 1, 2010. "There wasnt a single clean shot from the point the entire night," Mason said. "They did a great job of getting sticks on it, bodies in front. When you have a team like that, it makes it difficult to stop pucks. We controlled a lot of the play, but they were able to get two deflections in there. For the most part, we did a pretty good job." Read scored his 14th goal with 14:12 remaining, after Mark Streits sharp-angle shot from the left corner struck Andersen in the chest and bounced into the net off Reads right leg. NOTES: C Nick Bonino, one of four players to appear in all 56 games for Anaheim, went to the dressing room with an upper-body injury after an open-ice hit from C Zac Rinaldo at 12:38 of the opening period. He played four shifts in the second period before calling it a night. ... Rinaldo returned to the lineup after missing 10 games with a high left ankle sprain. ... Lindholm leads all rookies with a plus-minus figure of plus-25. He was a plus-2 against the Flyers. ... Winniks goal was his second this season and third in his last 96 games. ... The Flyers have connected on the power play in five straight games and 11 of the last 14. ... The Flyers are 26-20-6 since Craig Berube replaced Peter Laviolette as head coach following the teams second consecutive 0-3 start. ... The Ducks are 32-1-2 when scoring three or more goals, and 31-0-2 when allowing fewer than three. They also are 30-1-2 when leading after two periods. ' ' ' |
